


Ignorance Is Bliss

by washtheseghostsclean



Category: Formula 1 RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Crack, M/M, don't take this too seriously guys, this is literally a crack fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-24
Updated: 2020-12-30
Packaged: 2021-03-09 20:21:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,785
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27701977
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/washtheseghostsclean/pseuds/washtheseghostsclean
Summary: “Dom/Sub?” Daniel’s eyes go wide.“And they don’t mean the sandwich chain.” Lando runs a hand over his face.Dear God, those stories really were not about sandwiches.Or alternatively someone sends Lando the link to Ao3.
Relationships: Daniel Ricciardo & Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo/Max Verstappen
Comments: 22
Kudos: 180





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was talking to a friend about the chaos that will ensue if F1 ever finds out about fan fiction. While thinking about it is hilarious please do not send fan fiction to the drivers. They don't want to know, we don't want them to know. We all just want to stay happily oblivious of each other.

Look, Lando has been on the internet long enough to know it’s a weird place.

He tends to keep away from things he does not want to know. But a fan send him the link and it was late enough for Lando to not be thinking so he opened it. What followed was four hours down a rabbit hole he did not know how to get out of. And now he needs someone to share it with. Otherwise, he will say something stupid during an interview and the reporters will ask for more and he will give it to them because he doesn’t know when to stop talking. 

So yes, he needs to speak to someone and there’s only one person that will not freak out. 

* * *

Lando is hiding his phone against his chest like he’s carrying the government secrets. Which in a way he does because if this gets out they are all going to have a problem. Like not a problem with the fans but between them. F1 is a very fragile sport with even more fragile male egos. Emphasis on male. And some of the things he read? Wow… Wow is the only thing that can describe it. He’s been able to avoid Zak and a few of the mechanics and the Renault motorhome is only a breath away. He can see Daniel’s door two feet from where he is. 

“Lando!” Someone calls from behind him but he refuses to stop. 

“Later!” He yells over his shoulder. He needs to get this to Daniel.

* * *

He finds Daniel in his driver's room with Aurélie. They’re going over some papers together, whispering among themselves, and have barely noticed Lando barging in. This is only half bad because he does need a third opinion on this and Aurélie is the best candidate right now. Lando has mad respect for the women that work in F1. They have a weird ability to keep everyone in check and make this shit show of sport work. They also seem to never panic for some reason. The number of times Lando has watched Aurélie pull Daniel away from an interview just a moment before it becomes inappropriate are too many to count. Lando most of the time panics when he sees it coming. 

“I have something to show you.” He declares and two pairs of eyes lock on him. 

“I swear to god, Lando,” Daniel rolls his eyes going back to his work. “If this is about porn again please read the e-book I got you!” First of all, that e-book was a joke. Second just because Lando hasn’t done it yet doesn’t mean he doesn’t know how the mechanics of sex work. And third, he’s only 21! He has all the time in the world. 

“I wish it was.” He sighs and places his phone in front of Daniel and Aurélie. Okay, that’s a lie. There’s a bit of porn involved in this. Just on a different format than usual. 

‘ _Archive of our Own_ ’ is embedded on the top of the page in red, in contrast to the white font behind it. Followed by the ‘ _1-20 out of 899 works in Daniel Ricciardo/Max Verstappen_ ’ tag. Beneath it, there’s a row of what appears to be the first twenty entries. 

“Do I wanna know?” Daniel asks as he scrolls through the list of words such as ‘ _Maxiel freeform, Enemies to Lovers, Secret Relationship, Mutual Pinning_ ’. 

“I think you do.” Lando offers weakly. “Keep scrolling.” He’s leaning over them now, watching the phone screen too. 

_Attempted Seduction._

_Rough Sex._

_Blow Jobs._

_Praise kink._

_Sex toys._

The list only goes on and on. 

“Dom/Sub?” Daniel’s eyes go wide.

“And they don’t mean the sandwich chain.” Lando runs a hand over his face. Dear God, those stories really were not about sandwiches. 

“How did you find this?” Daniel asks as he keeps scrolling though.

“A fan send it to me,” Lando admits. “I had to share it with someone! I cannot tell Carlos he will freak out. Max will go on a rampage. George will have a lot of questions and end up involved in some way. And I don’t think Charles or Pierre want to see what’s written about them.” Which fair enough, it’s mostly a little angsty and cute but still. 

“I mean they are being kind of creative?” Daniel shrugs. 

“Yes,” Aurélie rolls her eyes. “They’re being creative writing about you banging Max.” She snorts and Daniel pulls a face. 

“Max and I are not a couple!” Daniel snaps. It’s been years and he still cannot understand why everyone thinks that. Lando makes a noise of dismay and Daniel throws him a warning look. 

“Well,” Aurélie shrugs from beside him. “You have hinted to the opposite many times.”

“I have not!”

“There was that pre-race panel you did with Red Bull a few years ago.” She says holding a finger up as if she will count down the times Daniel was stupid. 

“The one he said Max ‘is young and aggressive and goes straight in’?” Lando pips in.

“Yes,” Aurélie nods, smirking. “Then there was the Sky interview where you asked Max if he misses you.” Another finger goes up. Well, okay we will be counting down the times Daniel has been stupid on live TV. 

“Because we had fun working together!”

“Then Max said you also shared rooms.” Lando thinks he’s helping but he’s not. “People loved that one!” Daniel keeps forgetting that sometimes Max is the same kind of stupid he is. This is why they work so well together. They're more like Crash and Eddie in Ice Age as opposed to Lilly and Marshal in How I Met Your Mother. 

“There was also the time you said you wanted to smell nice because you knew would see Max.” Another finger up and Daniel does not like the odds here.

“Again, a joke!” 

“What about the interview on Dutch TV about the thigh rash?” Lando offers and Daniel groans. He had forgotten about that one. Damn his big mouth and not knowing when to shut it. 

“Also a joke!”

“Oh, the puppets making out!” Aurélie is going to be running out of fingers if this keeps up.

“The Insta comments with inside jokes and ‘missing bae’ captions!” Daniel is going to regret having Lando as a teammate next year. 

“Enough!” Daniel stops them both. “Max and I joke a lot about these kind of things and it gives people the wrong idea. I get it.” He shakes his head laughing. Well, at least it’s Max they have him paired with and not Kimi. That would not go down well with anyone. 

The door opens at that specific moment and no one other than Max walks in. Daniel quickly locks the screen of Lando’s iPhone and throws it at him. “Send me that link.” He says and Max looks between them, his forehead creased in confusion. What? He wants to read some of these things. If anything Daniel is a curious man. 

“Are you guys talking about porn again?” Max asks, not really in the mood to know. He has been traumatized enough by Daniel’s taste, well, in everything to be able to handle Lando’s porn related questions right now. He’s had a fucking long day and all he wants is dinner and to go to bed early. 

“No!” Lando, Daniel, and Aurélie reply at the same time. 

“Whatever.” Max shakes his head. “Are you done?” He asks Daniel. “I’m starving.” Daniel nods and grabs his jacket. Sebastian told him about a good burger place just a few minutes from the hotel they're staying and Daniel has been dying to try it. 

“Let’s go.” He pulls Max along and then they are gone. 

“They are dating and they have no idea.” Lando shakes his head. 

“It’s going to be so much fun when they find out. I’ve been waiting for it since Baku 2018!” Aurélie laughs from beside him. “Wanna grab a bite too?”

“Sure.” Lando shrugs. “Wanna read that story where both Daniel and Max are Youtubers?” Lando himself is already on like the fifth-teen chapter. 

“Yes, please.” Aurélie claps her hands happily. “Do they have any stories with them as vampires?”

“Duh.” Lando rolls his eyes and sends her the link.

Well, as he has said at the start of this the internet is a weird place.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Also the infamous Youtuber AU by simplyverstappen was the first Maxiel fan fic I ever read and I will always love it. Thus why it gets the mention. I'm so soft for that fic.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> There’s a brief moment where all the stories he read flash before his eyes. Stories about them falling in love while racing, alternative universes where they meet in coffee shops and universities. Stories about them being soft and gentle with each other. Stories where they are cruel and competitive. Stories where they lost and found each other. So many different feelings and lifetimes locked in thousands of words.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> People said, write more of this and my brain went 'okay' so here we are. This is still not full out romantic Maxiel but the platonic elements of love are still there?

Daniel is the kind of person that gets along with everyone. It’s not that he tries, he’s just so relaxed that it’s hard for someone to get on his nerves. Besides his mamma always said that there’s no point in getting upset about things you cannot change. It’s what’s kept him sane in F1 for so many years. The sport is so stressful and demanding that if you do not go with the flow occasionally you will go insane. This is how his friendship with Max started. Max was young, inexperienced, in a competitive environment when he first started and Jos had been no help at all. Daniel had never liked the older man and that did not change as the years went on. The feeling is mutual, though, Jos has expressed his dislike for Daniel many times. Which was only one of the reasons Daniel made sure Jos was not in the paddock as often as he used to be after Max’s first year. 

Daniel took Max under his wing and showed him how to play the game. He’s very happy, years later to see that Max has become his own man instead of trying to conform to what others wanted. Granted he’s not always perfect but no one is. There was a brief moment after he announced he’s leaving Red Bull that Daniel thought his friendship with Max would end. It felt like it when Max stopped speaking to him for a few weeks. The way Daniel went about things wasn’t perfect but he did not trust himself to not bail out if he spoke to Christian before he signed with Renault. A text message on New Years' was all it took for the tension to be resolved though. The apology Daniel owed to Max for being such a dick. He wasn’t expecting a reply but was happy he got one anyway. Max means way too much to Daniel to lose him.

Daniel did not know people had so many opinions about his relationship with Max until Lando showed him that link. Then he went on to Google them and found Tumblr. It went downhill from there. Daniel is a very curious person. That cannot be argued. So naturally, when Lando came to him with _this_ he had to do his research. We will call it research because reading porn about him and one of the people he considers his closest friend does not sound good. Because he does, Daniel does consider Max one of his best friends. They have been through so much shit together, both during their Red Bull years and after. So yeah, we shall call this trip down insanity, research. 

He is _impressed_ , to say the least, by the variety of these stories. He has seen from super soft and sweet stories to hardcore porn that even he would be ashamed to write. And that says a lot because Daniel has no shame. Not that anyone should be ashamed about their kinks, as long as it’s safe and consensual everyone should enjoy themselves. Daniel is just _enchanté_ by it all. He jumps when the front door to Max’s flat shuts close. Max is back with their food and Daniel should have really thought this through. Now he’s both hungry and a little turned on for reasons he would not like to get into. 

“They were out of Red Bull so I got us Monster instead.” There’s resentment in Max’s voice and Daniel rolls his eyes. “Just don’t tell Lewis, please.” Max is buzzing around getting plates and glasses so they can eat. Daniel’s focus has returned to the story on his phone. “What the fuck is wrong with you?” Max asks him as he places everything on his coffee table. 

“What do you mean?” Daniel locks his phone quickly and throws it on the couch. Completely ignoring Max’s eyes following it. 

“You’ve been acting weird lately.” Max shrugs. “Are you seeing someone and you don’t want to share?” He might sound slightly offended. Which fair enough, they have been sharing everything related to their lives since 2018. Max is the closest to him after Michael. They have each other’s house keys in case of emergency. Max is the one Daniel calls after a long day. The first person to text when he wants to vent. Okay, yeah it does sound a lot like dating minus the sex.

“I’m fine!” Daniel answers too quickly for it to sound true. Max does not look convinced. It happens in a flash, Daniel has let his guard down and Max is way too quick for his own good. He snatches Daniel’s phone and runs. “Max, no!” Daniel scrabbles after him, he almost has him. Max slams his bedroom door in Daniel’s face, laughing. 

Fuck, Max knows his passcode. 

“If you’re getting so worked up about this then it’s something pretty good.” Max’s voice is muffled. Oh, it is, Max Emilian! Just not the kind of good you’re expecting. 

“You still have time to bail out, Maxy!” Daniel bangs his hand against the door. “Trust me, this is something you do not want to know.” Silence. “Maxy?” Another bang on the door. More silence. “Are you ok?” Daniel asks concerned now, the tab he had open was not one of the soft and sweet stories. If it had been up to him he would have shown Max some fluff. Not one of the stories of Daniel railing him for four thousand words. 

“Shut up for a moment!” Okay, that’s good. He’s still alive. Minutes pass and Daniel just looks at the locked door, willing it to open. He slides to the floor, from experience he knows this is going to be a while. “Why am I always the bottom?” Max finally emerges from his room forty-five minutes later, face scrunched up in confusion. 

“I’m sorry?” 

“Why am I always the bottom on these stories?” Max turns the phone towards Daniel, open on a new story. Oh, he hasn’t read this before! “I can top you if I want!” Daniel is surprised by the laugh that escapes him. “I’m serious!” Max insists. 

“Maxy,” Daniel coos. “You cannot top me even if you tried!” 

“I so can!” Daniel is ready to argue some more when he realizes something. 

“Wait, you’re not mad?”

“Why would I be mad?”

“You know, these stories are about you and me…” Daniel trails off. 

“Having sex?” Max says matter of factly. “We’re both adults, Daniel, you can use the appropriate term for it.” 

“Look at you, Maxy, using your big words.” 

“Fuck you.” 

“Apparently we do a lot of that.” Daniel shrugs and they both burst into laughter. “So you’re not mad?” Daniel asks again as they move back to the living room. 

“This is a work of fiction.” Max shrugs. “But if I had to pick a dude, it’d definitely be you.” 

“This is so sweet.” Daniel puts a hand over his heart. “I’m honored you’d let me be your first.” 

“Would you be soft and gentle with me?” Max’s voice drops to a whisper, his eyelashes fluttering and Daniel is thrown off for a moment. But then Max is laughing again and Daniel shakes his head. Did he- Did he think about it for a minute? Did he really think about what fucking with Max would be like? Well, that’s new. Let’s just- Let’s just take this thought, lock it in a pretty wooden box, and yeet it into a black hole. Never to be thought about again because Daniel does not have the strength to deal with it now. 

“You know I would.” He goes back to their original banter, reaching for his burger. There’s a brief moment where all the stories he read flash before his eyes. Stories about them falling in love while racing, alternative universes where they meet in coffee shops and universities. Stories about them being soft and gentle with each other. Stories where they are cruel and competitive. Stories where they lost and found each other. So many different feelings and lifetimes locked in thousands of words. Then he smiles. “I’m happy you’re my friend, Maxy,” Daniel confesses, looking at the younger man fondly. 

“So am I, idiot,” Max replies, launching into a story about something stupid Charles did during one of their live streams. 

**Author's Note:**

> Also the infamous Youtuber AU by simplyverstappen was the first Maxiel fan fic I ever read and I will always love it. Thus why it gets the mention. I'm so soft for that fic.


End file.
